The number of persons employed increased by 0.4% in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 in the second quarter of 2018

The number of persons employed increased by 0.4% in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 in the second quarter of 2018 compared with the previous quarter, according to national accounts estimates published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the first quarter of 2018, employment increased by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU28.These figures are seasonally adjusted.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 1.5% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU28 in the second quarter of 2018 (after +1.5% in both areas in the first quarter of 2018). Eurostat estimates that, in the second quarter of 2018, 238.9 million men and women were employed in the EU28, of which 158 million were in the euro area. These are the highest levels ever recorded in both areas. These figures are seasonally adjusted.

These data on employment provide a picture of labour input consistent with the output and income measure of national accounts.

Employment growth in Member States

Among Member States for which data are available for the second quarter of 2018, Estonia and Malta (both +1.3%), Poland (+1.2%), Cyprus (+1.0%) and Luxembourg (+0.9%) recorded the highest increases compared with the previous quarter. A decrease was observed in Latvia, Portugal, Romania (all -0.3%) and Bulgaria (-0.2%).

Geographical information

The euro area (EA19) includes Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

The European Union (EU28) includes Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Methods and definitions

Employment covers employees and self-employed working in resident production units (i.e. the domestic employment concept). Unless otherwise stated, all employment estimates in this release use persons as the measurement unit. ESA 2010 acknowledges other possible measures for employment: jobs and total hours worked.

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